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Now in our sixth calendar year
PCR #264  (Vol. 6, No. 15)  This edition is for the week of April 11--17, 2005.

LA FLORIDIANA
Charlie Carlson’s "Weird Florida": Unleashed!!!! Book Release Party
 by William Moriaty
THIS WEEK'S MOVIE REVIEW
"The Amityville Horror"
 by Mike Smith
ODDSERVATIONS
Debralee Scott Dies at 52...."Zombiethon" (1986)
 by Andy Lalino
NICHOLAS REX
Right To Die, Right To Live
 by Nicholas King
CREATURE'S CORNER
Conversations With Gorbly...."Sahara"
 by John Lewis
MATT'S RAIL
Bucco Focus....Stupid Is As Stupid Does
 by Matt Drinnenberg
MIKE'S RANT
Where's Matthew McConaughey?...Beautiful Noise....Passing On....Speaking Of Music....I'm A Star....Jaws: The Story, Part 14
 by Mike Smith
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Nicholas Rex

Right To Die, Right To Live

Hello again, readers. After almost a year of silence, Nicholas Rex is back. It is a great thing to be able to write for the readers of Crazedfanboy again. That Nolan would allow me to pick this back up again is something near and dear to my heart. Now that that’s out of the way, let’s get this show on the road so to speak.

If you’re looking at the title of this piece then you’ve probably guessed this has something to do with the Schiavo case. To one degree you are correct but to another degree you are not. The subject of this piece is not to discuss the late Terri Schiavo or anything like that. It is to talk about the matter which consumed her family and her husband. That question was simply this: Does she have the right to die or the right to live? In a perfect world, we would never have to ask that question. But an imperfect world is the one we’re stuck in. These are my opinions on this subject, nothing more.

Who decides whether someone has the right to die or the right to live? The government to a certain extent does. That’s what happens when they decide to start wars.

Insurance companies also have the same ability when they say that a certain form of medical operation or treatment is too expensive or not covered by the person’s insurance. But ultimately we as individuals choose life or death. We choose to live and in many cases we choose the manner of our death. There is one certainty above all others in the universe: with every breath you take, you’re reducing the number of breaths you have left by one until none remain. Death is to many people something to be feared because it is the last great mystery we have yet to solve. But in the same token there are those that embrace the notion of death as a transition from this life into the next, whatever that may be.

From a very early age I learned about death. I was 8 when my grandmother passed away, someone I was very close to. It taught me that someday my mother, my father, my other grandparents, even my younger brother would cease to exist in this world. The manner in which they die is not as important as the matter in which they live.

I’m proud to say that my mother and brother have lived full lives up to this point. I can honestly say that I think my mother will leave this world with only a few burdens left on her soul. My brother and I hopefully have more years ahead of us. For now all I can do is enjoy their company and counsel and live every moment I can with them when I can.

Life to me is nothing more than a series of moments, pieces of life that are forever ingrained into our minds as memories. Our first kiss, the first time we ever watched the sunrise…etc. These are the things that make life precious. But how we live our lives is more important that whether or not we are breathing. Breathing denotes life but it is only a mechanism of the body, something that we unconsciously do every moment of our lives. A mechanical function is not life. Enjoying life’s joys and surviving its sorrows is what life really is.

At the end of the day we are the ones who choose between the right to die and the right to live. Every morning we wake up (or evening if you’re a day sleeper like me), we choose how we’re going to live thru that day. I think everyone wants the right to die with dignity and respect. I know I do.

Nicholas Rex


"Nicholas Rex" is ©2005 by Nicholas King.   All graphics, unless otherwise noted, are creations of Nolan B. Canova.  All contents of Nolan's Pop Culture Review are ©2005 by Nolan B. Canova.